New Year Favours Buyers - Waterfront Appraisals Down, Prices Down, Mortgage Rates Low

It seems like 2009 may be shaping up to be a year where deals start to pop up in the BC real estate market. We know a lot of you are out there looking for them, but we have been hearing that many buyers are scared to act now for fear that prices will fall further. Recent news that waterfront appraisals in some areas are down and sales are stalling combined with increased media hype about the poor economy will likely result in further price adjustments across BC in 2009. Depending on how long this "recession" continues, this could potentially be a great year for buyers to get in there and make some good buys on prime waterfront property.

All of the "bad" real estate news coming out right now is welcome news for buyers as it has made sellers more aware of the situation and as a result, homes are being priced much more competitively than in the past few years. I believe the days of multiple offers, $30, 000 over asking have come and gone; but they will most likely be back when we hit the next peak in the market.

Most BC property owners have already received their 2008 property assessments. Because property prices started to decline slightly after the 2008 assessments were completed, most properties will be taxed based on their lower 2007 assessment. The government has done this in part to avoid the unnecessary process of property owners appealing their assessments. Brian Hawkins, an assessor in Greater Victoria stated that higher-end and waterfront properties started to drop off in price earlier than some of the other types of property. He attributed this to their higher price escalation over the past 5 years.

To make things even better for buyers, some of the best-discounted 5-year mortgage rates that I have seen in a while showed up this week on Ozzie Jurock's Email notice. 5 year rates as low as 4.67 % are being offered by Meridian Canadian Mortgages.

We will be sending out a quarterly "Hot Properties" email with properties we believe represent good value in today's market, so if you're interested, sign- up below. Happy house hunting!